Kurosuzu
by Turtle Demon
Summary: Konoha is visited by a stranger from its past. Despite connections to the Akatsuki and to Itachi, Kurosuzu Oboro manages to become the sort of big brother Sasuke has never quite had. Their judgements are tested when Akatsuki shows up.
1. The Snooping Stranger and Sasuke

**A/N: Um. . .please read and review. No flames please, just constructive criticism. This is my first fanfiction and might be a bit AU. ;;; I really can't think of anything more to say. . . or write. Yeah. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. They belong to Kishimoto.**

**Chapter One: Surprising Stranger and Sasuke**

It was just one of those lazy, peaceful days in the village of Konoha in which the village genin teams had nothing to do but to complete neighborhood chores and find lost pets. It was late in the afternoon, about six o' clock actually, and the sun was setting in the sky, setting the clouds ablaze in red and gold. Team Seven was returning from their mission (weeding the neighborhood gardens and such) with calloused hands and aching backs. They were headed towards the Ramen stand with Naruto and Sakura leading the way, arguing loudly about whether Sasuke weeded the gardens faster than Naruto. Sasuke, of course, was walking a few feet behind alongside Kakashi, who was oblivious to the debate, eyes glued to Jiraiya's latest edition of "Come Come Paradise." Sasuke was trying (and failing) to ignore Naruto and Sakura's loud ramblings, diverting his attention elsewhere.

"Naruto no Baka! Sasuke definitely collected the most weeds from the gardens!"

"More weeds don't prove the fact that he beat me! I picked the weeds faster!"

"This argument is pointless! Only you would come up with it!"

"Aw! But Sakura-Chan!"

"Shut up! Baka!"

There was a loud yelp as Sakura bopped Naruto over the head with her fist. Sasuke sighed and raised an eyebrow at his teammates. They were a strange sight parading down the dirt road: one loud idiot, one desperate Sasuke fan-girl, one stoic "last of the clan" Uchiha prodigy, and one perverted jounin ninja. Sasuke would have given anything for a change in situations. Anything. Luckily for him, he didn't have to. Just as they rounded a corner, a hand shot out of the shadows and seized Sasuke's wrist. He jerked to a stop, shock evident on his face as the others halted a few steps ahead. They turned with curious looks and blinked.

A tall man, about a few inches shorter than Kakashi, stepped out of the dark. He was dressed from the neck down in black clothes, almost ninja-like, except there were no weapons to be seen on his body. Long white hair hung over his face and shoulders, but he did not seem elderly at all. Piercing copper eyes scanned Sasuke's face for a brief second before the stranger's face lit up into a smile.

"Uchiha Sasuke? Am I right?" the stranger asked, surprisingly polite.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes into a fierce glare as he stared back at the smiling man. He tried to wrench his arm away, but the stranger's grip was incredibly strong.

"Bastard! Who are you!" Naruto shouted, pointing a finger at the stranger, "Ah! You're a spy sent by Orochimaru aren't you? Are you with the Akatsuki? Maybe you're a missing-nin who came for revenge! Maybe—"

"Shut up, baka! This is an intense situation!" Sakura silenced Naruto with another smack on the head before turning to Kakashi, who had already put away his book, "Kakashi-sensei, who is this? What's going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know, " Kakashi narrowed his eyes and reached for a kunai in his back pouch, "I haven't seen you around the village lately—do you have a pass? State your name and business."

"Ah, there's no need to get violent, Hatake-san," the stranger said, continuing to smile pleasantly at them, "My name is Kurosuzu Oboro and it's an honor to finally meet the Copy-nin Kakashi."

"Release me, now! Before I tear your arm off!" Sasuke growled dangerously, his Sharingan activated.

"Didn't your brother tell you anything about me?" Oboro asked, frowning slightly.

The tense atmosphere shattered.

"My brother?" Sasuke breathed, more to himself than any.

"Yes, Uchiha Itachi, I believe," Oboro replied, releasing Sasuke's arm, "You looked exactly like him so I supposed you might know who and where he is."

Sasuke stared up at this man who claimed to know his brother. _What does he have to do with aniki?_

"I'm afraid Uchiha Itachi can no longer be found in this village," said Kakashi, stepping forward, his hand still gripped around the kunai, "He is missing."

Oboro's face fell completely. His once bright face was dark and cold. Sakura and Naruto blinked at this, letting their guards down.

"I heard about Uchiha Itachi's betrayal, I just didn't want to believe it," muttered Oboro in deep thought, "It really has been quite a while before I came back to this place."

He looked up at the others and smiled again. He took out a piece of folded paper from his pocket and handed it to Kakashi, who put away his kunai to read it.

"As you can see, I have permission from the Hokage herself to roam these streets freely," said Oboro, "I am not an enemy, just a man returning home from a very, very, long journey."

Kakashi handed the paper back to Oboro and straightened, returning to his indifferent self.

"Maa, well, it's been nice meeting you but next time you might not want to jump Konoha ninja like that," Kakashi droned, reaching for his book, "We might not meet a second time."

"Oh, I think I can handle ninja just fine," Oboro laughed and turned to leave, "Ja ne, Uchiha-san, perhaps we'll meet again to talk."

Oboro turned and disappeared into the night.

_How? I didn't even sense him, _thought Sasuke, watching Oboro's back as he walked away.

"Sasuke?" asked Sakura cautiously, reaching out to touch his shoulder. He shrugged away and walked ahead.

The others followed quietly behind him.


	2. Kurosuzu and Kyuubi

**A/N: This next chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer: XRulerofChaosX. Thank you for your kind review!**

**Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own any of the Naruto characters or the series.**

**Chapter Two: Kurosuzu and Kyuubi**

The next morning came quickly, bringing a mist of chill into the village of Hidden Leaf. The leaf ninja were already awake, preparing to start a new day of missions, whether they were house chores or espionage.

The Hokage tower loomed out of the fog and stood guard over the village, a reminder to the villagers who lived there that their ninja protected them. Tsunade was sitting at her desk, drowsily filling out papers and scrolls piled up all around her. Her pale golden-blonde head was resting on one arm as the other scribbled lazily at the scrolls, her eyes barely open. Finally, her arms slipped and her head fell forward onto the desk with a loud '_thud_.' Papers fluttered as she snored loudly. (Anyone within a three-mile radius would have heard it).

Suddenly, the doors burst open, bringing the snoozing Godaime out of her brief slumber. It was Shizune, carrying Ton-Ton the pig, and Izumo and Kotetsu with mountains of more paperwork in their arms. The papers dropped to the floor as Izumo and Kotetsu pointed an angry finger at their Hokage.

"Godaime-sama! You were sleeping just now, weren't you!" they cried, frustrated that their Hokage would rather sleep than help her fellow ninja conquer the current war against paperwork.

Tsunade just waved and smiled strangely, a trail of spittle running down her chin. A giant bead of sweat rolled down their faces at her 'response.' Tsunade wiped the drool off on her green sleeve and retained an authoritative posture.

"Do you have news for me, Shizune?" asked Tsunade in a commanding voice that brought everybody back into seriousness.

"Tsunade-sama, Hatake Kakashi is here requesting an appointment with you," said Shizune, "Should I allow him in?"

"Bring him in, Shizune," responded Tsunade, "The rest of you leave those papers here and go outside."

Kotetsu and Izumo looked at each other before dropping the files onto the floor and walking out. Shizune stood by Tsunade's side as Kakashi strolled in, pocketing an orange book.

"You wished to see me about something, Kakashi?" asked Tsunade, picking up a pen and continuing her work.

"My teammates and I had finished our chores yesterday evening and were heading towards Ichiraku—the ramen stand that Naruto likes so much—and as usual, Naruto and Sakura began to argue about Sasuke—"

"Is there a point to this, Kakashi?" Tsunade asked through bared teeth, veins pulsing visibly on the temple of her forehead.

"Maa, of course," Kakashi scratched at his chin, "We bumped into a suspicious character on the way; he seemed to know Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi."

Tsunade snorted, "Who doesn't?"

"He even asked about Itachi and did not seem to know what happened to him or the Uchiha clan, as if he had been gone from this village for a long time."

Ton-Ton squealed in Shizune's arms as the two women blinked in interest.

"And who was this man?" asked Tsunade, releasing her pen and folding her arms on her desk.

"He was a bit shorter than me with long white hair—"

"Jiraiya?" Shizune cut into the description, eyebrow raised.

"No—let me finish, Shizune-san—He was much too young to be Jiraiya, about my age, I think, but younger—"

"What was his name, Kakashi?" sighed Tsunade, hand slapped to her forehead.

"Kurosuzu Oboro."

Tsunade looked up, thunderstruck, as her mouth dropped open.

"Tsunade-sama, are you all right?" asked Shizune as Ton-Ton made worried sounds.

The fifth Hokage shot up from her seat, knocking her chair over.

"Kurosuzu Oboro! Are you sure?" cried Tsunade, her hands curled into fists.

"Yes, that is what he said," said Kakashi, just as confused as Shizune and Ton-Ton.

Tsunade frowned with a pained expression and looked down at her fists pressed on top of her desk, shaking as she tried not to break the wood in half.

"I thought you knew the man was here, Tsunade," Kakashi droned, hands buried in his pockets, "He had a pass signed by you."

"WHAT!" Tsunade shouted, her burning eyes glancing up at Kakashi, "I signed no such pass to anyone in the past six months!"

* * *

Team seven stood rooted to the spot in shock, staring at Kakashi with wide eyes.

"WHAT!" screeched Naruto, looking horrified. Kakashi had not seen such an expression on Naruto since he found out he had run out of cup ramen.

"That's right, Naruto," Kakashi droned, "Tsunade just ordered every Konoha ninja, Anbu Squad member, and Hunter-nin to hunt and take down Kurosuzu Oboro for suspected connections with the summoning of the Kyuubi no Youko thirteen years ago."


	3. Akatsuki and Iruka

A/N: Much thanks to Jaganthunder and XRulerofChaosX for their kind reviews! It is people like them that inspire me to continue! (Because without them I probably would have quit by now).

* * *

Chapter Three: Akatsuki and Iruka

* * *

Just outside the gates of Konoha, two small figures were rushing through the trees, baggy black robes adorned with blood-red clouds fluttering behind them like banners announcing their arrival. They were both young twins, around the ages of ten, and both wore black masks that covered half of their faces. Judging from their scratched out headbands, they were both missing-nin from the hidden village of mist. In the Ninja Bingo books, they were referred to as Gin and Gina, the Treasure Twins. The boy with the short silver hair was of course, Gin, and the girl with the curly silver hair was Gina. Both possessed rather large, bright golden eyes, uncommon among missing-nin.

"Gin-kun, you smell that?" asked Gina, sniffing the air as they flew.

"Yeah," replied Gin, narrowing his eyes, "Leave it to me."

Gina smiled underneath her mask and leapt off to the side, disappearing into the trees.

Gin halted and landed on a thick tree branch, fingering a kunai in his pocket. As he expected, three Konoha ninja appeared on a branch behind him. He sniffed. Two were, without a doubt, jounin and one was of chuunin rank. He suppressed a smile. He would be able to take the chuunin down easily.

"Who are you? Akatsuki?" asked a voice behind him.

_The smell of steel increased in the air. . . _Gin thought. _Looks like they took out their weapons. They smell. . . fresh. . . those weapons haven't touched blood before. Business must be slow for Konoha nin._

Gin remained motionless, fingers still touching the hilt of his weapon. Cold steel met his throat. He glanced over his shoulder at a man with unruly silver hair.

"Hmph," Gin smirked, "Hatake Kakashi, I presume?"

"Gin of the Treasure Twins," drawled Kakashi, one visible eyebrow raised, "Maa, where is the other?"

"HERE I AM!" a voice behind them called enthusiastically.

"IRUKA!" Anko's voice followed.

Kakashi risked a look behind him and narrowed his eyes dangerously. Holding Iruka from behind with a long sword to his throat was Gina, grinning underneath her mask.

"We're one step ahead of you, Hatake," chuckled Gin, relaxing his shoulders and crossing his arms.

Iruka nervously watched Gina from the corner of his eyes, frozen in position with weapon in hand.

"What's a chuunin doin' out here with the big, bad jounins?" mocked Gina, laughing shrilly.

Iruka gritted his teeth and frowned in annoyance, glaring at the missing-nin behind him.

"All konoha-nin have been ordered by the Godaime to search the area," answered Kakashi, eyes still locked on the hostage situation.

Gin's eyes flashed and he tilted his head to one side, regarding the Copy-nin curiously.

"Searching for what?" asked Gin, "Or should I say, searching for who?"

"You know, who we're searching for, silver gaki," sneered Anko, "Because you're here for him, too, right?"

Gina laughed again, "Sugoi, sugoi! This is getting interesting, Gin-kun!"

Her laughter echoed through the forest.

"Looks like we'll have to take care of these trashes first, Gina-chan, " said Gin, "Take out the chuunin first!"

Kakashi glared as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead, revealing his nerves.

"Hai, hai!" Gina cried, her grip tightening on her sword.

There was a flash of steel and an explosion of blood.

"IRUKA!"

* * *

Naruto stopped his movements and crouched low to the ground. He turned his head and stared at the shadows between the trees. Something wasn't right. Something was different. What was this atmosphere?

"Naruto," Sasuke landed beside him, "What are you doing? We're supposed to be searching. Don't hold the team back, dobe."

"Urusai! Sasuke-teme!" shouted Naruto angrily, fingers waving accusingly.

"Don't tell Sasuke-kun to shut up, Naruto!" growled Sakura, cracking her knuckles as she appeared in all her "double personality" glory.

"Agh! Calm down, Sakura-chan!" cried Naruto, waving his arms in surrender.

"Well, well," a familiar voice chuckled amusedly, "For ninja trained under the legendary Copy-nin Kakashi, you three sure do suck at stealth."

They wheeled around on their heels to find Kurosuzu Oboro towering over them with his hands on his knees.

"AAAAGGGGH!" screamed Naruto, grabbing his hair with one hand and pointing at Oboro with the other, "K—Kurosuzu Oboro!"

Sakura flinched and jumped back, reaching for her weapons. Sasuke did the same, dropping into a defensive stance. Naruto continued to panic.

"Eh? What's with your reactions?" asked Oboro, blinking, "I didn't mean to insult you—but to take it so seriously—"

"Kurosuzu Oboro! We are placing you under arrest for crimes against Konohagakure on orders of the Godaime, Tsunade-sama!" Sasuke cut in authoritatively, "You are to surrender immediately or face the consequences!"

"Sasuke-kun is so cool!" squealed Sakura from behind, shattering the dramatic moment. Sasuke's face fell and he winced in irritation.

To their surprise, Oboro merely laughed, "You guys are cute!"

"Eh!" cried Naruto, blinking in confusion, his shoulders slumped and his face blank, "What's so funny?"

Suddenly, Oboro stopped laughing and his face became serious. He looked to his right and frowned.

"Somebody's in trouble," Oboro muttered, "Why are _they_ here?"

"Nani?" team seven chorused.

The white-haired man leapt away and sped off into the trees.

"Damn it!" Sasuke cursed and jumped after him.

"Ah! Matte!" cried Naruto, springing away with Sakura at his heels.

* * *

"IRUKA!" Kakashi shouted, "Don't just stand there!"

Gina stumbled back with a shriek of pain as Iruka slashed at her arms with his kunai. He spun and flung the throwing knives at her throat. Gina yowled like a cat and flipped back gracefully, dodging the kunai. She landed on all fours, wincing as a fresh wave of pain seared through her bloody hand.

"Gina-chan!" cried Gin, stunned, "How? How did a chuunin move that fast?"

"Iruka is a master of the basics," said Kakashi, a tinge of pride in his voice, "Don't underestimate Konoha-nin!"


	4. Gin's Claws and Gina's Sword

**A/N: Much thanks to Chi-41132, Buried fire, raikujin for reading and reviewing! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter, too!**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Gin's Claws and Gina's Sword**

* * *

Gina stood slowly, sneering at Iruka who calmly stood his ground. Her eyes darted over to her sword buried deep into the trunk of the tree and back to Iruka. She smiled.

"Don't even think about it," Iruka warned, frowning as Gina inched slowly towards it.

"Tell your sister to give up, Gin, it's over," said Kakashi, pressing his kunai into Gin's neck, "Come with us peacefully or die."

"I don't think you're in any position to threaten me, Hatake," said Gin, smirking menacingly.

Kakashi blinked, taken aback and confused. Gin's left fingers flicked upward and pulled back, revealing long threads of chakra from his fingers shining in the dim light.

"Damn!" Kakashi cursed, jumping back as a barrage of knives shot out from behind.

Gin rolled over to the side, dodging them completely. Anko leapt back to land besides Kakashi, watching in horror as the knives sped towards Iruka and Gina.

"IRUKA! LOOK OUT!" screamed Anko.

Iruka spun and nimbly slashed his kunai into the air, knocking most of the knives out of the way. He gritted his teeth as pain erupted in his right knee and left side. Gina lunged for her sword and wrenched it out of the wood, spinning around to face Iruka. She had a crazed look on her face as she sprinted towards him, swinging her weapon madly.

"Senei Jashu no Jutsu! Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Anko extended her hand as three snakes spiraled out of her sleeve towards Gina.

A strangled shriek escaped Gina's throat as the three snakes sank their fangs into her, shoving her body back into the tree trunk where her sword had once been. POOF! The body disappeared in a cloud of smoke and was replaced by a small log. They watched, frozen for a second, as the large piece of wood thudded against the thick tree branch and fell to the ground below.

"ARGH!" Anko gritted her teeth and spun, four ribbons of blood streaming across the air from the deep, small gashes in her back. She narrowed her eyes and growled as she saw Gina, smiling with bloody claws. Gina's smile vanished as she looked to the side, dodging a kunai thrown her way—courtesy of Iruka.

Gin appeared alongside Kakashi, aiming a kick to his face. Kakashi easily blocked it with his arm, watching Gin warily.

"You need to do more than that to defeat me," said Kakashi, blocking a flurry of kicks.

"Thanks for the suggestion!" Gin grinned and swiped his claws a few inches above Kakashi's chest.

Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise as long thin gashes ripped open along his chest. As the realization sank in, he clenched his teeth and eyes against the pain, blood flying from the wounds. He jumped back and brought his hand to the blood, examining the damage. He looked up at Gin whose hands were glowing with blue chakra.

"I see," Kakashi muttered, "You used chakra to extend your claw attack."

"You catch on quickly," Gin smirked arrogantly, flexing his hand, "You say we should not underestimate you, but your all fools for underestimating Akatsuki."

"Then I'll get serious," Kakashi lifted his headband from his hidden Sharingan eye.

Gina appeared with her back against Gin's back and readied her sword in front of her. Anko appeared in front of Iruka who was kneeling, trying to stop the bleeding in his side. He was more worried about the wound in his side then his knee. A vital organ may have been hit.

"Iruka, take it easy, Kakashi and I will take it from here," said Anko, "Try to stop that bleeding—it looks bad."

Kakashi waited patiently as Gin stared him down, his claws twitching for more blood. Gina raised her sword and pointed it towards Anko who dropped into a defensive position.

They struck.

* * *

**A/N: sorry everybody. I know that was kinda short but I'm having major writer's block and all that. Please read and review!**


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